Members of the community protecting the Ferguson Market https://t.co/2HdnooFwWC

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 16, 2014

Sam's Meat Market, one of the places hit hardest last night #ferguson https://t.co/DVkJtl2q3C

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 16, 2014

Community members helping to clean up Sam's Meat Market #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/HdocWXKDwf

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 16, 2014

 d-usa wrote:

 Asherian Command wrote:
I do have to say that all parties involved in this need to report to being reasonable school for adjustment.

The majority of the people protested peacefully and didn't cause any problems.

 d-usa wrote:
Looks like a State of Emergency and a Curfew have been declared.

 d-usa wrote:
Looks like the Justice Department and state police both told the PD that it is a really stupid idea to release the video at the same time as the name.

When Lacy Clay and Malik Shabazz have to save you from your own presser, just wow.

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 16, 2014

Geotagged Ferguson-Related Tweets, Aug. 9-Aug. 14. #ironwilson #floatingsheep @wilsonism @kyjts @rmcooper4 pic.twitter.com/Vmsgogbty6

— Eric M. Huntley (@ericmhuntley) August 16, 2014

Relapse wrote:
Whembly, does it feel to you and your friends living there if an end is in sight? Hopefuly this can finish without anyone on either side of the action getting killed or seriously hurt.

 d-usa wrote:
You can still meet the FIOA request and release the video a couple hours later at a separate conference.

The way they handled it and released both at once just felt like "yeah, this guy killed him, but he was no angel either", which was the concern by the other agencies.

What do we want?
– Darren Wilson
How do we want him?
– Dead

It's going to get real.... #Ferguson police put on gas masks pic.twitter.com/QaseRb6LKe

— Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) August 17, 2014

Plumes of smoke now #ferguson pic.twitter.com/8MdrZWFJZw

— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) August 17, 2014

This. Is. Missouri. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/156lTWF43C

— Michelle Huxtable (@MichelleHux) August 17, 2014

Yup. Local reporter on the scene Kenny Bahr holds a tear gas canister in #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/14QBCzosdA

— Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) August 17, 2014

 whembly wrote:


Someone messed up... Capt. Johnson said no more tear gasses...

Police fired smoke canisters on protesters in the first hour of the curfew. After getting reports of a shooting victim, police fired tear gas in order to get to the wounded individual, according to Johnson.

 Ouze wrote:

Speaking of the force continuum, in my mind, if you throw a molotov cocktail at human being, you should be getting shot with live ammo in return. So while the force used has sometimes been excessive, there has been some restraint.

 whembly wrote:

 Ouze wrote:

Speaking of the force continuum, in my mind, if you throw a molotov cocktail at human being, you should be getting shot with live ammo in return. So while the force used has sometimes been excessive, there has been some restraint.

I was fine with them using tear gasses from the get go... it didn't start until the police were shot at first.

As to using real bullets when molotov cocktail is thrown? Not practical since those guys are usually bob 'n weaving between other protesters. It's not exactly easy to start firing at the crowd like that.

Tear gas is actually the less worst options of all bad options imo.

ijreview wrote:A Witness Conversation Unknowingly Captured at the Scene of the Ferguson Shooting is a Game-Changer



A previously unnoticed detail in a background conversion of a video taken minutes after the Ferguson shooting could change the course of the investigation into Mike Brown’s death.

The original video poster appears sympathetic to the narrative that Mike Brown was shot unarmed with his hands in the air. But he unknowingly picks up conversation between a man who saw the altercation and another neighbor.

An approximate transcription of the background conversation, as related by the “Conservative Treehouse” blog:

@6:28/6:29 of video
#1 How’d he get from there to there?
#2 Because he ran, the police was still in the truck – cause he was like over the truck
{crosstalk}
#2 But him and the police was both in the truck, then he ran – the police got out and ran after him
{crosstalk}
#2 Then the next thing I know he doubled back toward him cus - the police had his gun drawn already on him –
#1. Oh, the police got his gun
#2 The police kept dumpin on him, and I’m thinking the police kept missing – he like – be like – but he kept coming toward him
{crosstalk}
#2 Police fired shots – the next thing I know – the police was missing
#1 The Police?
#2 The Police shot him
#1 Police?
#2 The next thing I know … I’m thinking … the dude started running … (garbled something about “he took it from him”)

This is terribly important because if Mike Brown had been shot, and he advanced towards the cop instead of surrendering, it would substantiate the narrative that the policeman shot in self-defense due to the fact that he was being threatened with severe bodily harm.

This corroborates an account of the event given by a friend of Officer Darren Wilson:

Well, then Michael takes off and gets to be about 35 feet away. And, Darren’s first protocol is to pursue. So, he stands up and yells, “Freeze!” Michael and his friend turn around. And Michael taunts him… And then all the sudden he just started bumrushing him. He just started coming at him full speed. And, so he just started shooting. And, he just kept coming. And, so he really thinks he was on something.

It’s far too unlikely that these two accounts are similar accidentally, having been from such disparate sources. The apparent witness in the background conversation is speaking with detail about the tragic shooting, and in a manner that runs contrary to the widespread version. Those who watch the video need to judge for themselves if the witness sounds reliable (but he would seemingly have nothing to gain by telling such a story.)

A third piece of the puzzle would be the toxicology report. If there happens to be anything found that might explain how Mike Brown might have been shot and kept advancing toward the officer, then the defense becomes even more believable. Unless someone is emotionally invested in an alternative narrative to the extent that one might ignore plain facts.

We shall see.

Editor’s note: This article was edited after publication.

efarrer wrote:

 whembly wrote:

 Ouze wrote:

Speaking of the force continuum, in my mind, if you throw a molotov cocktail at human being, you should be getting shot with live ammo in return. So while the force used has sometimes been excessive, there has been some restraint.

I was fine with them using tear gasses from the get go... it didn't start until the police were shot at first.

As to using real bullets when molotov cocktail is thrown? Not practical since those guys are usually bob 'n weaving between other protesters. It's not exactly easy to start firing at the crowd like that.

Tear gas is actually the less worst options of all bad options imo.

Problem with that is we have to take the polices story at face value... which is really tough in that city.

Throwing tear gas and it's not even midnight. Now throwing smoke bombs. pic.twitter.com/XVnAhyvDz1

— zellie (@zellieimani) August 18, 2014

BREAKING: OFFICER DOWN in #Ferguson, Shots Fired, Molotov Cocktails – THOUSANDS MARCHING http://t.co/6Mf86sSpeT via @gatewaypundit

— Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) August 18, 2014

Cop says protesters shooting back #Ferguson

— Danny Wicentowski (@D_Towski) August 18, 2014

FERGUSON, Mo. — Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was killed by a police officer, sparking protests around the nation, was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, a preliminary private autopsy performed on Sunday found.

One of the bullets entered the top of Mr. Brown’s skull, suggesting his head was bent forward when it struck him and caused a fatal injury, according to Dr. Michael M. Baden, the former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, who flew to Missouri on Sunday at the family’s request to conduct the separate autopsy. It was likely the last of bullets to hit him, he said.

Mr. Brown, 18, was also shot four times in the right arm, he said, adding that all the bullets were fired into his front.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Sunday that the Justice Department would conduct its own autopsy, in addition to the one performed by local officials and this private one because, a department spokesman said, of “the extraordinary circumstances involved in this case and at the request of the Brown family.”

The preliminary autopsy results are the first time that some of the critical information resulting in Mr. Brown’s death has been made public. Thousands of protesters demanding information and justice for what was widely viewed as a reckless shooting took to the streets here in rallies that ranged from peaceful to violent.

Mr. Brown died last week in a confrontation with a police officer here in this suburb of St. Louis. The police department has come under harsh criticism for refusing to clarify the circumstances of the shooting and for responding to protests with military-style operational gear.

“People have been asking: How many times was he shot? This information could have been released on Day 1,” Dr. Baden said in an interview after performing the autopsy. “They don’t do that, even as feelings built up among the citizenry that there was a cover-up. We are hoping to alleviate that.”

Dr. Baden said that while Mr. Brown was shot at least six times, only three bullets were recovered from his body. But he has not yet seen the X-rays showing where the bullets were found, which would clarify the autopsy results. Nor has he had access to witness and police statements.

Dr. Baden provided a diagram of the entry wounds, and noted that the six shots produced numerous wounds. Some of the bullets entered and exited several times, including one that left at least five different wounds.

“This one here looks like his head was bent downward,” he said, indicating the wound at the very top of Mr. Brown’s head. “It can be because he’s giving up, or because he’s charging forward at the officer.”

He stressed that his information does not assign blame or justify the shooting.

“We need more information; for example, the police should be examining the automobile to see if there is gunshot residue in the police car,” he said.

Dr. Baden, 80, is a well-known New York-based medical examiner, who is one of only about 400 board-certified forensic pathologists in the nation. He reviewed the autopsies of both President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and has performed more than 20,000 autopsies himself.

He is best known for having hosted the HBO show “Autopsy,” but he rankles when he is called a “celebrity medical examiner,” saying that the vast majority of what he does has nothing to do with celebrities.

Dr. Baden said that because of the tremendous attention to the case, he waived his $10,000 fee.

Prof. Shawn L. Parcells, a pathologist assistant based in Kansas, assisted Dr. Baden.

“You do this for the families,” Mr. Parcells said.

The two medical experts conducted the four-hour examination Sunday at the Austin A. Layne Mortuary in St. Louis. Benjamin L. Crump, a lawyer for Mr. Brown’s family who paid their travel expenses, hired them.

“The sheer number of bullets and the way they were scattered all over his body showed this police officer had a brazen disregard for the very people he was supposed to protect in that community,” Mr. Crump said. “We want to make sure people understand what this case is about: This case is about a police officer executing a young unarmed man in broad daylight.”

A spokesman for the Ferguson Police Department, Tim Zoll, said the police had not seen a report of the autopsy and therefore had no comment on it.

Dr. Baden said he consulted with the St. Louis County medical examiner before conducting the autopsy.

One of the bullets shattered Mr. Brown’s right eye, traveled through his face, exited his jaw and re-entered his collarbone. The last two shots in the head would have stopped him in his tracks and were likely the last fired.

Mr. Brown, he said, would not have survived the shooting even if he had been taken to a hospital right away. The autopsy indicated that he was otherwise healthy.

Dr. Baden said it was unusual for the federal government to conduct a third autopsy, but dueling examinations often occur when there is so much distrust of the authorities. The county of St. Louis has conducted an autopsy, and the results have not yet been released.

He stressed that his examination was not to determine whether the shooting was justified.

“In my capacity as the forensic examiner for the New York State Police, I would say, ‘You’re not supposed to shoot so many times,’ ” said Dr. Baden, who retired from the state police in 2011. “Right now there is too little information to forensically reconstruct the shooting.”

No matter what conclusions can be drawn from Dr. Baden’s work, Mr. Brown’s death remains marked by shifting and contradictory accounts more than a week after it occurred. The shooting is under investigation by St. Louis County and by the F.B.I., working with the Justice Department’s civil rights division and the office of Attorney General Holder.

According to what has emerged so far, on Saturday, Aug. 9, Mr. Brown, along with a companion, Dorian Johnson, was walking in the middle of Canfield Drive, a fistful of cigarillos in Mr. Brown’s hand, police say, which a videotape shows he stole from a liquor store on West Florissant Ave.

At 12:01 p.m., they were stopped by Darren Wilson, a police officer, who ordered them off the road and onto the sidewalk, Mr. Johnson, who is 22, later said.

The police have said that what happened next was a physical struggle between Mr. Brown and Officer Wilson that left the officer with a swollen face. Mr. Johnson and others have said that it was a case of racial profiling and police aggression from a white officer toward a black man. Within minutes, Mr. Brown, who was unarmed, was dead of gunshot wounds.

The sequence of events provided by law enforcement officials places Mr. Brown and Mr. Johnson at Ferguson Market and Liquors, a store several blocks away on West Florissant Ave., at about 11:50 a.m. After leaving the store with the cigarillos, the two walked north on West Florissant, a busy commercial thoroughfare, toward Canfield Drive, a clerk reported to the police.

Mr. Brown was a big man at 6-foot-4 and 292 pounds, though his family and friends described him as quiet and shy, a homebody who lived with his grandmother.

It is about a 10-minute walk from Ferguson Market to the spot where Officer Wilson, 28, with six years’ experience, approached Mr. Brown and Mr. Johnson.

The police tell of an officer who was enforcing the minor violation of jaywalking, as Mr. Brown and Mr. Johnson ignored the sidewalk and strolled down the middle of the road instead.


The morning after the shooting, Chief Jon Belmar of the St. Louis County police said that Officer Wilson was leaving his police car when Mr. Brown “allegedly pushed the police officer back into the car,” where he “physically assaulted the police officer.”

“Within the police car there was a struggle over the officer’s weapon,” Chief Belmar said. “There was at least one shot fired in the car.” At that point, the police said, Officer Wilson left his vehicle and fatally shot Mr. Brown. “More than a few” shell casings were recovered from the scene.

Mr. Johnson, who declined to be interviewed, has described the events differently in television interviews. While he and Mr. Brown walked, he said, Officer Wilson stopped his vehicle and told them to get on the sidewalk. When they refused, Officer Wilson slammed on his brakes and drove in reverse to get closer.

When the officer opened his door, it hit Mr. Brown. With his left hand, Officer Wilson reached out and grabbed Mr. Brown by the neck, Mr. Johnson said.

“It’s like tug-of-war,” Mr. Johnson said. “He’s trying to pull him in. He’s pulling away, that’s when I heard, ‘I’m gonna shoot you.’ ”

A neighbor, Tiffany Mitchell, said in an interview with MSNBC that she heard tires squeal, then saw Mr. Brown and Officer Wilson “wrestling” through the open car window. A shot went off from within the car, Mr. Johnson said, and the two began to run away from the officer.

According to Ms. Mitchell, “The officer gets out of his vehicle,” she said, pursuing Mr. Brown, then continued to shoot.

Mr. Johnson said that he hid behind a parked car and that Mr. Brown was struck by a bullet in his back as he ran away, an account that Dr. Baden’s autopsy appears to contradict.

“Michael’s body jerks as if he was hit,” Ms. Mitchell said, “and then he put his hands up.” Mr. Brown turned, Mr. Johnson said, raised his hands, and said, “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!”

Officer Wilson continued to fire and Mr. Brown crumpled to the ground, Mr. Johnson said. Within seconds, confusion and horror swept through Canfield Drive. On that Saturday afternoon, dozens of neighbors were at home and rushed out of their apartments when they heard gunshots.

One person who claimed to witness the shooting began posting frantic messages on Twitter, written hastily with shorthand and grammatical errors, only two minutes after Officer Wilson approached Mr. Brown. At 12:03 p.m., the person, identified as @TheePharoah, a St. Louis-area rapper, wrote on Twitter that he had just seen someone die.

That same minute, he wrote, “Im about to hyperventilate.”

At 12:23 p.m., he wrote, “dude was running and the cops just saw him. I saw him die bruh.”

A 10-minute video posted on YouTube appeared to be taken on a cellphone by someone who identified himself as a neighbor. The video, which has collected more than 225,000 views, captures Mr. Brown’s body, the yellow police tape that marked off the crime scene and the residents standing behind it.

“They shot that boy ’cause they wanted to,” said one woman who can be heard on the video.

“They said he had his hands up and everything,” said the man taking the video, speaking to a neighbor.

Mr. Brown’s body remained in the street for several hours, a delay that Chief Jackson said last week made him “uncomfortable.” Antonio French, a St. Louis alderman who has been active in this case, said on ABC on Sunday that the body had remained in the street for nearly five hours.

At one point, a woman can be heard shouting, “Where is the ambulance? Where is the ambulance?” The man taking the video, who remained off-camera, said, “God rest his soul. He’s gone.”

BREAKING: Shoot-out in progress - Police and Protesters - North of the QT in #Ferguson

— Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) August 18, 2014

.@AP Photo: People flee a @McDonalds after taking refuge from tear gas Sunday night in #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/9qSGKLMpEB

— Austin Hunt (@iAustinHunt) August 18, 2014

 Bromsy wrote:
I've read way too many twitter comments about this whole deal, and it just reminds me what bigoted, small minded, myopic, overly impassioned and uninsightful creatures so many of us are. Twitter makes me sad. The world makes me sad.


Can't people see that apathy is the only road to lasting world peace?

Now I am going to go drink myself into a stupor.

 Hordini wrote:
The problem is way too many people "know" what happened before they actually know anything about what happened.

 Surtur wrote:

 Hordini wrote:
The problem is way too many people "know" what happened before they actually know anything about what happened.

People are more willing to hear from friends and family of a defendant or victim than an officer of the law.

 kronk wrote:
ICS?